ARCA has a vehicle ready to compete in the X prize cup and wants to bring it to Las Cruces, New Mexico. The team leader walks up to a very concerned US customs officer, takes a deep breath and says ... "Yes, I really do want to bring this 46 foot rocket into your country and launch it."

How does a Romanian go about bringing a very large firework into the USA?

Well, you could use the old Russian technique of mounting the rocket in a submarine, creeping up on the US coastline, then letting rip from the sea...well, maybe not.

I think we "foreign" types are sometimes a little jaded in our views of the American government. When it comes down to it, if your intentions are good and the paperwork is filled out in triplicate, they will let pretty much anything in or out of the country. They are afterall in the business of trade. Take for example the recent transfer of surplus plutonium warheads to British armed merchant vessels for delivery to France for dissassembly/decommision. ARCA comes from a freindly NATO state which will soon be in the EU (God help them). They won't have a problem. If the US government decides to play silly buggers, there will be an alternate cup in Woomera or Plesetsk with an open invite to all US teams. We will then see who turns up. Maybe a European Cup and an America's Cup would form and challenge each other every 4 years...